Rapidly opening pressure regulating valve, fire extinguishing apparatus using the pressure regulating valve, high-pressure gas cylinder device, and rapid fluid feeding device

ABSTRACT

A rapid opening pressure regulating valve reduced in size and having improved flow rate characteristics, a fire extinguishing apparatus using the same, a high-pressure gas cylinder apparatus, and an apparatus rapidly supplying a fluid. When the rapid opening pressure regulating valve is assembled, a valve element member body ( 22 ) is inserted into a body ( 1 ), and a valve element ( 21 ) is inserted into an inlet nozzle part ( 11 ) from the inlet ( 11   a ) thereof and fixed to the lower end of the valve element member body ( 22 ). The valve element ( 21 ) is fixed to the valve element member body ( 22 ) by, for example, threading the inner circumferential surface of the valve element ( 21 ) and the corresponding lower end outer peripheral surface of the valve element member body ( 22 ) and screwing the lower end of the valve element body ( 22 ) into the valve element ( 21 ). Since a valve seat ( 13 ) can be provided on the valve element ( 1 ), the valve element member body ( 22 ) can be inserted from the upper end of the body ( 1 ) and the valve element ( 21 ) can be inserted from the inlet ( 11   a ) of the body ( 1 ), and the valve element member body ( 22 ) and the valve element ( 21 ) can be installed so as to hold the valve seat ( 13 ), a conventional barrel part can be eliminated and the number of members can be reduced to reduce the size of the rapid opening pressure regulating valve.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve that is mounted, for example, in an inert gas cylinder for highpressure fire extinguishment that can be opened rapidly and whosemaximum pressure on the secondary side has to be limited, a fireextinguishing apparatus using the same, a high-pressure gas cylinderapparatus and an apparatus for rapidly supplying fluid.

BACKGROUND ART

For example, as a valve for a CO₂ cylinder used in a CO₂ fireextinguishing apparatus or the like, a valve that can be opened rapidlyby introducing a high pressure gas for starting is generally used.However, with this type of valves, the pressure on the outlet sidecannot be limited. On the other hand, as a valve including a mechanismfor reducing pressure, a cylinder valve provided with various reducingvalves that is opened and closed by rotating a handle has been proposed.However, such a valve cannot be opened rapidly.

On the other hand, the inventors of the present invention developed arapidly opening pressure regulating valve as disclosed in JapaneseUnexamined Patent Publication JP-A 10-339383(1998) (FIGS. 7 to 10).However, in such a rapidly opening pressure regulating valve, the mainbody of the valve includes a plurality of members so that it isdifficult to reduce the size, and the flow rate characteristics are notgood.

The main body of a rapidly opening pressure regulating valve has toinclude a plurality of members for the following reason. FIGS. 12 to 14are views showing the order of assembling a conventional rapidly openingpressure regulating valve. First, a valve member 222 is inserted in amiddle body 210 from the upper end, and a valve component 221 isattached to the lower end of the valve member 222 that is projected fromthe middle body 210. Furthermore, a moving spring receptacle 207 and aspring 204 are inserted in the middle body 210 and a spring receptacle203 is fixed. Then, these elements are threaded into a main body 201 andfixed thereto.

In order for the valve component 221 to serve as an open valve, thevalve component 221 has to be larger than a valve seat 213 of the middlebody 210, and therefore it is necessary to separate the valve member 202into the main valve member 222 and the valve component 221, and toassemble these elements with the valve seat 213 sandwiched therebetween.In this case, the middle body 210 having the valve seat 213 isnecessary, in view of the relationship between the size of the valvecomponent 221 and the inlet nozzle portion 211 of the main body 201.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B1-B2 of FIG. 14.When opening the valve, the valve member 202 slides in the directionperpendicular to the drawing sheet from the nearer side to the fartherside. In this case, fluid flows the direction perpendicular to thedrawing sheet from the farther side to the nearer side, is guided by aplurality of fluid guiding ports 212 b and led to an outlet 212 a via afluid guiding groove 212 c. When the middle body 210 is threaded intothe main body 201 and fixed thereto, the fluid guiding port 212 b is notalways fixed in the same direction. The flow rate in the outlet 212 a isdifferent between the case when the positions of the fluid guiding port212 b and the outlet 212 a are displaced significantly and the case whenthe positions thereof are matched, so that the flow rate is varied,which affects the flow rate characteristics.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

An object of the invention is to solve the above-described problems inthe conventional techniques and to provide a rapidly opening pressureregulating valve that is compact and has improved flow ratecharacteristics, a fire extinguishing apparatus using the same, a highpressure gas cylinder apparatus and an apparatus for rapidly supplying afluid.

The invention is a rapidly opening pressure regulating valve comprising:

a main body provided with an inlet and an outlet of a fluid and a valveseat;

a valve member being composed of a main valve member having one end sideand the other end side, and having a closing pressure-receiving surfacethat is in communication with the outlet, for receiving a pressure in aclosing direction, and an opening pressure-receiving surface formed onthe other end side, for receiving a pressure in an opening direction,which valve member is guided movably in an opening/closing direction bythe main body, and a valve component that is mounted removably on theone end side through the inlet and opened and closed by being broughtinto contact with and being detached from the valve seat;

a channel for communicating the inlet with the other end side;

a biasing member for biasing the valve member in the opening direction;

a moving receiving portion that is interposed between a receiving memberand the biasing member, the moving receiving portion being guidedmovably in the opening/closing direction, provided with apressure-receiving surface for receiving a same pressure as the openingpressure-receiving surface, and generating a biasing force in thebiasing means when moved to a predetermine position in the openingdirection;

a positioning portion provided in the main body so as to stop the movingreceiving portion at the predetermined position;

pressure-sealing means including a sealing plate that is provided so asto close the channel; and

sealed pressure-releasing means provided in the main body, the sealedpressure-releasing means being constituted so as to supply a pressure inthe channel to the opening pressure-receiving surface by breaking thesealing plate when operated,

wherein a pressure-receiving area for receiving a fluid pressure of thevalve component that is seated in the valve seat, a pressure-receivingarea of the closing pressure-receiving surface, a pressure-receivingarea of the opening pressure-receiving surface, and a biasing force ofthe biasing member are determined so as to have a relationship in whichthe channel is communicated and the opening pressure-receiving surfacereceives a pressure in the opening direction, whereby the valvecomponent portion is opened and a valve closing force that closes thevalve component portion when a pressure in the outlet exceeds apredetermined pressure becomes larger than the biasing force, wherebythe valve component portion is closed.

The invention is a rapidly opening pressure regulating valve comprising:

a main body provided with an inlet and an outlet of a fluid and a valveseat;

a valve member being composed of a main valve member having one end sideand the other end side, and having a closing pressure-receiving surfacethat is in communication with the outlet, for receiving a pressure in aclosing direction, and an opening pressure-receiving surface formed onthe other end side, for receiving a pressure in an opening direction,which valve member is guided movably in an opening/closing direction bythe main body, and a valve component that is mounted removably on theone end side through the inlet and opened and closed by being broughtinto contact with and being detached from the valve seat;

a channel for communicating the inlet with the other end side;

a biasing member for biasing the valve member in the opening direction;

a moving receiving portion that is interposed between a receiving memberand the biasing member, the moving receiving portion being guidedmovably in the opening/closing direction, provided with apressure-receiving surface for receiving a same pressure as the openingpressure-receiving surface, and generating a biasing force in thebiasing means when moved to a predetermine position in the openingdirection;

a positioning portion provided in the main body so as to stop the movingreceiving portion at the predetermined position;

pressure-sealing means including a pressure-sealing member that isprovided so as to close the channel; and

sealed pressure-releasing means provided in the main body, the sealedpressure-releasing means being constituted so as to supply a pressure inthe channel to the opening pressure-receiving surface by keeping thepressure-sealing member open when operated,

wherein a pressure-receiving area for receiving a fluid pressure of thevalve component that is seated in the valve seat, a pressure-receivingarea of the closing pressure-receiving surface, a pressure-receivingarea of the opening pressure-receiving surface, and a biasing force ofthe biasing member are determined so as to have a relationship in whichthe channel is communicated and the opening pressure-receiving surfacereceives a pressure in the opening direction, whereby the valvecomponent portion is opened and a valve closing force that closes thevalve component portion when a pressure in the outlet exceeds apredetermined pressure becomes larger than the biasing force, wherebythe valve component portion is closed.

The invention is characterized in that the pressure-sealing member is asealing plate, the sealed pressure-releasing means comprising:

a needle portion provided so as to be opposed to the sealing plate;

a piston-like member for biasing the needle portion such that the needleportion penetrates the sealing plate by receiving a fluid pressure; and

an operating portion formed so as to bias the piston-like member.

The invention is characterized in that the valve component comprises acontact portion that comes in contact with the valve seat; and

a reinforcing portion for suppressing deformation of the contactportion, and the reinforcing portion is made of a material having atensile strength of 200 N/mm² or more.

The invention is characterized in that an area of a region of the valvecomponent that is opposed to the valve seat is the same as an area ofthe opening pressure-receiving surface.

The invention is characterized in that when the pressure-receiving areaof the closing pressure-receiving surface is reduced, thepressure-receiving area for receiving a fluid pressure of the valvecomponent seated in the valve seat and the pressure-receiving area ofthe opening pressure-receiving surface are constant, and therelationship is maintained.

The invention is characterized in that the receiving member isconstituted such that its inner circumferential surface can guidemovement of the moving receiving portion in the opening/closingdirection.

The invention is characterized in that the receiving member and the mainbody are constituted so as to be capable of being thread-engaged witheach other, and have contact portions other than engaged portions, whichcontact portions are formed to be tapered.

The invention is a rapidly opening pressure regulating valve comprising:

a valve member configured so as to be displaceable along an axisthereof; and

a main body formed integrally with a cylinder insert portion that isinserted in a high pressure gas cylinder and in which an inlet of gas isformed, the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve comprising:

insert portion reinforcing means for increasing a mechanical strength ofthe cylinder insert portion.

The invention is characterized in that the cylinder insert portionincludes a housed portion that is housed in a cylinder and an exposedportion that is exposed outside the cylinder, and the insert portionreinforcing means reinforces a portion including a vicinity of aboundary between the housed portion and the exposed portion.

The invention is characterized in that the insert portion reinforcingmeans comprises:

a reinforcing means main body portion provided across between both sidesin the axis direction of the boundary;

a thread mechanism portion provided on one side in the axis direction ofthe boundary, for supplying a driving force to the reinforcing meansmain body portion toward the one side in the axis direction; and

a thread-advance preventing portion provided on the other side in theaxis direction of the boundary, for preventing the reinforcing meansmain body portion from advancing while being threaded to the one side inthe axis direction.

The invention is characterized in that the reinforcing means main bodyportion is formed in a cylindrical shape,

the thread-advance preventing portion is formed integrally with thereinforcing means main body portion and projects outward in a radialdirection of the reinforcing means main body portion to be engaged witha cylinder insert portion, and

the thread mechanism portion has an inner threaded portion that isformed integrally with the inner circumferential portion of the cylinderinsert portion, and an outer threaded portion that is formed integrallywith the outer circumferential portion of the reinforcing means mainbody portion and that is thread-engaged with the inner threaded portion.

The invention is a fire extinguishing apparatus comprising:

an inert gas cylinder for storing inert gas for fire extinguishment;

the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve mentioned above in whichthe inlet of the main body is mounted on the inert gas cylinder,

wherein the fire extinguishing apparatus comprises a line for guidingthe inert gas from an outlet of the rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve to a fire extinguishment area.

The invention is a high pressure gas cylinder apparatus comprising:

a high pressure gas cylinder; and

the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve mentioned above in whichthe inlet of the main body thereof is mounted on the high pressure gascylinder.

The invention is an apparatus for rapidly supplying a fluid comprising:

a fluid source for supplying a fluid; and

the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve mentioned above in whichthe inlet of the main body thereof is provided in the fluid source.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other and further objects, features, and advantages of the inventionwill be more explicit from the following detailed description taken withreference to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view showing an order of assembling a rapidly openingpressure regulating valve to which the invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a view showing an order of assembling a rapidly openingpressure regulating valve to which the invention is applied;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an entire configuration of arapidly opening pressure regulating valve of an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an entire configuration of anrapidly opening pressure regulating valve of an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along A1-A2 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 are explanation views of a sealing plate mechanism, of which FIG.6A is an enlarged sectional view of the sealing plate mechanism, andFIG. 6B is a longitudinal sectional view of a valve-operating mechanism6 for this mechanism;

FIG. 7 show a relationship of pressures applied to different parts of avalve member 2, of which FIG. 7A shows a state after opening, and FIG.7B shows a state before opening;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an entire configuration of arapidly opening pressure regulating valve of another embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing an entire configuration of arapidly opening pressure regulating valve of further another embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing an entire configuration of arapidly opening pressure regulating valve of yet another embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a system outline of a nitrogen fireextinguishing apparatus, which is one example of an apparatus to whichrapidly opening pressure regulating valve is applied;

FIG. 12 is a view showing an order of assembling a conventional rapidlyopening pressure regulating valve;

FIG. 13 is a view showing an order of assembling a conventional rapidlyopening pressure regulating valve;

FIG. 14 is a view showing an order of assembling a conventional rapidlyopening pressure regulating valve; and

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B1-B2 of FIG. 14.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Now referring to the drawings, preferred embodiments of the inventionare described below.

Hereinafter, preferable embodiments of a rapidly opening pressureregulating valve of the invention, a fire extinguishing apparatus usingthe same, a high pressure gas cylinder apparatus and an apparatus forrapidly supplying a fluid will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 are views showing an order ofassembling a rapidly opening pressure regulating valve to which theinvention is applied.

The rapidly opening pressure regulating valve of this embodimentincludes a main body 1, a valve member 2, a spring receptacle 3, aspring 4, which is a bias member, and a moving spring receptacle 7,which is a moving receiving portion. The valve member 2 comprises avalve component 21 and a main valve member 22.

When assembling, first, as shown in FIG. 1, the main valve member 22,the spring 4, and the moving spring receptacle 7 are inserted in themain body 1, and the spring receptacle 3 is threaded in the upper endportion and fixed thereto. Next, the valve component 21 is inserted froman inlet 11 a of an inlet nozzle portion 11 and attached to the lowerend of the main valve member 22, as shown in FIG. 2. The valve component21 and the main valve member 22 are fixed, for example, by threading theinner circumferential surface of the valve component 21 and the outercircumferential surface of the lower end of the main valve member 22that corresponds thereto, so that the lower end of the main valve member22 is threaded into the valve component 21 and fixed thereto.

The valve component 21 and the main valve member 22 may be fixed whenthe main valve member 22 is inserted into the main body 1, and then thespring 4 and the moving spring receptacle 7 may be inserted and thespring receptacle 3 may be fixed.

As shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, in the conventional rapidly opening pressureregulating valve, the valve component 221 and the main valve member 222are mounted in the middle body 210 and then the middle body 210 has tobe fixed to the main body 201. On the other hand, in the rapidly openingpressure regulating valve in this example, the valve component 21 isinserted from the inlet 11 a of the main body 1, so that the main bodyand the middle body are not separated but can be integral.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views showing an entire configurationof a rapidly opening pressure regulating valve of this embodiment. Therapidly opening pressure regulating valve of this example includes amain body 1, a valve member 2, a lateral communication hole 14, whichserves as a passage, a connection communication hole 16, a communicationhole 23, a spring receptacle 3, a spring 4, a sealing plate mechanism 5,which is means for sealing pressure and is shown specifically in FIG.6A, a valve-operating mechanism 6, which is means for releasing sealedpressure and is shown specifically in FIG. 6B, and a moving springreceptacle 7.

The main body 1 includes an inlet nozzle portion 11 and an outlet nozzleportion 12 that form an inlet 11 a and an outlet 12 a for, for example,high pressure nitrogen as a fluid, and a valve seat 13. The innercircumferential surface of the inlet nozzle portion 11 has a thread thatis to be mounted in, for example, a high pressure nitrogen cylinder 100when used as a rapidly opening pressure regulating valve 101 as shown ina schematic view of FIG. 11 described later. The outer circumferentialsurface of the outlet nozzle portion 12 has a thread on which, forexample, a pipe of a nitrogen fire extinguishing line 105 as shown inthe schematic view of FIG. 11 is mounted. The main body 1 may beprovided with a pressure gauge, a safety valve seat (not shown) for acylinder or the like as appropriate.

The valve member 2 is composed of a valve component 21 and a main valvemember 22, and the valve component 21 is a valve portion that is openedand closed by being brought in contact with and detached from the valveseat 13. The valve component 21 includes a contact portion 21 b thatcomes directly in contact with the valve seat 13 and a cap 21 a that isa reinforcing portion for suppressing deformation of the contact portion21 b. The main valve member 22 includes a communication hole 23, aclosing pressure-receiving surface 24, and an opening pressure-receivingsurface 25. The valve member 2 is guided by the main body 1 in a movablemanner in the direction shown by the horizontal arrow Z1-Z2 in thedrawings, which is the valve opening and closing direction. Thecommunication hole 23 is opened in the outer circumferential portion ofsubstantially the central portion of the valve member 2 from the upperend side as one end side and the other end side in this example, andcommunicates from the opening of the outer circumferential portion tothe inlet 11 a through the connection communication hole 16, the sealingplate 52 and the lateral communication hole 14. The closingpressure-receiving surface 24 is in communication with the outlet 12 aand receives pressure in the Z direction, which is the valve closingdirection, when the valve is open. Therefore, An O ring for sealingpressure is provided in a guiding surface with which the valve member 2is guided by the main body 1. The opening pressure-receiving surface 25is formed in the end portion of the arrow Z1 direction and receivespressure in the Z2 direction, which is the valve opening direction, whenthe valve is open.

In order to allow the valve component 21 to be inserted from the inlet11 a of the main body 1 without changing the size of the valve seat 13,it is necessary to make the cap 21 a small. The contact portion 21 b isformed of, for example, Teflon (registered trademark) and is pressedagainst the valve seat 13 by an inlet pressure when the valve is closed.The contact portion 21 b may be deformed, depending on the size of theinlet pressure, and fluid may be leaked out to the outlet 12 a.Therefore, the cap 21 a reinforces the contact portion 21 b bypreventing the contact portion 21 b from being deformed by covering allbut a portion in which the contact portion 21 b comes in contact withthe valve seat 13. The contact portion 21 b is deformed in the lateraldirection when being brought in contact with the valve seat 13, andtherefore, in order to suppress the deformation, it is necessary tocover the outer circumference of the contact portion 21 b with apredetermined thickness. Herein, the predetermined thickness can bedetermined by the tensile strength, which is the characteristic value ofthe material of the cap 21 a. As the tensile strength is larger, thethickness of the cap 21 a can be smaller and thus the valve component 21can be smaller. The wall thickness of the inlet nozzle portion 11 isdetermined by the inlet pressure, and the inner diameter of the inletnozzle portion 11 is accordingly determined.

The tensile strength and the thickness of the cap 21 a for covering theouter circumference of the contact portion 21 b are examined based onthe inner diameter of the inlet nozzle portion 11. Then, it has beenfound that when the material has a tensile strength of 200 N/mm² ormore, the cap 21 a has an adequate strength even if the thickness of thecap 21 a for covering the outer circumference of the contact portion 21b is decreased to the size that allows the valve component 21 to beinserted from the inlet 11 a, and the deformation of the contact portion21 b can be suppressed. Therefore, a material having a tensile strengthof 200 N/mm² or more is used, and the thickness of the portion thatcovers the outer circumference of the contact portion 21 b is apredetermined thickness, for example, 1.5 mm or less, so that the valvecomponent 1 including the cap 21 a can be sufficiently small. As thematerial of the cap 21 a, for example, brass and SUS can be used so thatthe valve component 21 can be sufficiently smaller than the innerdiameter of the inlet nozzle portion 11. Thus, it is possible toassemble in the above-described manner, and the main body and the middlebody are not separated but can be integral.

The spring receptacle 3 is mounted in the main body 1 by being threadedinto the inner side of the upper end portion of the main body 1 in thisexample, and the spring receptacle 3 supports the reaction of the spring4 via the moving spring receptacle 7. More specifically, after thesealing plate 52 is opened as described later, the introduced pressureon the valve inlet side is received by a space portion between itselfand the moving spring receptacle 7 to generate a pressure to the movingspring receptacle 7, so that the force of the spring 4 is supported viathe moving spring receptacle 7. On the other hand, before the opening,the spring receptacle supports the upper end of the moving springreceptacle 7 so that the spring 4 is substantially completely stretched.In this case, a gap may be generated between the upper end of the movingspring receptacle 7 and the contact surface of the spring receptacle 3,or the upper end of the moving spring receptacle 7 and the contactsurface of the spring receptacle 3 may come in contact with each otherto the extent that some spring force remains.

The valve member 2 is sealed with an O ring at the necessary portion soas to be slidable in an airtight state. The spring 4 is mounted betweenthe moving spring receptacle 7 and the spring receiving portion 26 ofthe valve member 2, and biases the valve member 2 to the Z2 direction.

The moving spring receptacle 7 is mounted between the spring receptacle3 and the spring 4, is guided movably in the opening/closing directionZ1-Z2 by the main body 1, provided with a pressure-receiving surface 7 afor receiving the same pressure as the opening pressure-receivingsurface 25, stopped by a positioning portion 17 when being moved to thelower position, which is a predetermined position in the openingdirection Z2, and lets the spring 4 generate a spring force F. That isto say, the moving spring receptacle 7 serves as a substantial springreceptacle anew inside the spring receptacle 3. The position of thepositioning portion 17 may be adjustable by forming a thread in thepositioning portion 17 or preparing a thin adjusting member that can bemounted thereon.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along A1-A2 of FIG. 3. At thetime of opening the valve, the valve member 2 slides from the nearerside to the farther side in the direction perpendicular to the drawingsheet. At this time, the fluid advances from the farther side to thenearer side in the direction perpendicular to the drawing sheet, isguided to the outlet 12 a by the fluid guiding port 12 b, and isdischarged from the outlet 12 a to the outside of the valve. As shown inFIG. 12, in the conventional rapidly opening regulating valve, themiddle body 210 is separate from the main body 201, so that a pluralityof fluid guiding ports 212 b are provided with the middle body 210, andfluid that is guided by each fluid guiding port 212 b is guided to theoutlet 212 a via the fluid guiding groove 212 c. In this case, thevariation in the flow rate in the outlet 212 a is large. On the otherhand, in the rapidly opening regulating valve, the middle body and themain body are integrated into one piece, so that the fluid guiding port12 b is not displaced from the outlet 12 a, and therefore there is novariation in the flow rate, which achieves good flow ratecharacteristics.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the pressure-sealing mechanism 5 includes athreaded ring 51, a sealing plate 52 made of, for example, a thinstainless steel for serving as a pressure-sealing member, and packingmembers 53, 54 that sandwich the sealing plate 52 by being pressed bythe threaded ring 51. An air supply port 55 for fluid is provided in anend portion of the threaded ring 51. The sealing plate 52 blocks thecommunication between the inlet 11 a and the communication hole 23 byblocking the communication between the lateral communication hole 14 andthe connection communication hole 16.

A thread 56 is formed on the outer side of the nozzle portionconstituting the pressure-sealing mechanism 5. Therefore, a thread 62 ais formed on the inner side of an end portion of an inner tube 62 of thevalve-operating mechanism 6, as shown in FIG. 6B, and is engaged withthe thread 56 of the nozzle portion from the outside.

As shown in FIG. 6B, the valve-operating mechanism 6 includes an outertube 61 to which an operation gas inlet 61 a is mounted, an inner tube62 inserted therein, a cover 63 that has an opening in its centralportion and is threaded into and mounted in the inner tube 62 so as toclose the upper end of the inner tube 62, an operation ring 64 that isinserted slidably in the inner tube 62 and whose upper position, whichis the reaction direction, is regulated by the end portion of the cover63, a needle member 65 mounted therein, a point 65 a, which is a needleportion provided so as to be opposed to the sealing plate 52, a spring66 for biasing the operation ring 64 upward, which is the reactiondirection, a rod 67 provided with a ring that is inserted in the openingof the cover 63, a cap 68 for operating the same, a sandwiching plate 69that is interposed between the cap and the cover 63 and holds the rod67, a pin 69 a that seals the sandwiching plate and a chain 69 b that isengaged therewith, a screw 70 with which the chain is attached. An Oring for sealing is provided in a necessary position.

In such a structure, the operation ring 64 corresponds to a piston-likemember that biases the point 65 a via the needle member 65 so that thepoint 65 a penetrates the sealing plate 52 by receiving pressure from ahigh pressure CO₂ starting gas line 104 as shown in FIG. 11 as a fluidpressure. The rod 67, the cap 68, the sandwiching plate 69 and the likeconstitute an operating portion formed so as to be capable of biasingthe operation ring 64.

FIG. 7 shows a relationship of pressures applied to the valve member 2,and FIG. 7A shows a state after the sealing plate 52 is broken andopened, and FIG. 7B shows a state before the opening. When the sealingplate 52 is broken, in the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve ofthis example, gas in the inlet 11 a flows sequentially through thelateral communication hole 14, the air supply port 55, the connectioncommunication hole 16, the communication hole 23 to the openingpressure-receiving surface 25 and the pressure-receiving surface 7 a ofthe moving spring receptacle 7, and a pressure P₁ is acted on theseelements, as shown in FIG. 7A. Thus, on the side of thepressure-receiving surface 7 a, the moving spring receptacle 7 ispressed down by the pressure P₁ in this portion and is lowered to apredetermined position L while compressing the spring 4, and thenimpinges on the positioning portion 17 of the main body 1 and stops. Atthis time, the spring 4 that is compressed by the moving springreceptacle 7 causes a spring force F to act on the valve member 2 in theopening direction.

As the sizes of the portions related to pressure adjusting function, thevalve member 2 has a central diameter d₃ of the contact portion of thevalve seat as the size of the valve seat 13, an outer diameter d₅ as thesize of the closing pressure-receiving surface 24, and an outer diameterd₄ as the size of the opening pressure-receiving surface 25. These sizesof these portions and the spring force F as a biasing force aredetermined so as to have a relationship that allows the pressure P₂ ofthe outlet 12 a to be no more than a predetermined pressure. It shouldbe noted that d₁ and d₂ are the diameter of the communication hole 23 onwhich the inlet pressure acts and the minimum diameter of the shaftportion of the valve member 2 on which the outlet pressure acts, andboth sizes are intermediately present.

In order to form a configuration having the above-describedrelationship, it is necessary to determine the sizes such that the valveis closed when P₂ becomes a predetermined pressure or more. Therefore,the condition scan be made into the following formula, taking thepressure in the inlet 11 a as P₁.(π/4)[P ₁ d ₃ ² +P ₂(d ₅ ^(2−d) ₂ ²)](valve closing force)≧(π/4)[P ₁(d ₄² −d ₁ ²)+P ₂(d ₃ ² −d ₂ ²)]+F(valve opening force)Therefore,(π/4)[P ₁(d ₃ ² +d ₁ ² −d ₄ ²)+P ₂(d ₅ ² −d ₃ ²)]≅F  (1)

The left side of this formula shows the total of valve closing force bythe pressure, and the right side shows the valve opening force by thespring force. According to this formula, P₁ is constant, and F is apredetermined force at a predetermined stretch when the spring constantis fixed, so that, provided that d₅ is larger than d₃, when P₂increases, the valve closing force increases. Therefore, when thesesizes and F are determined so as to have the relationship as shown bythe formula, when the outlet pressure P₂ exceeds a predetermined value,the valve closing force by pressure becomes larger than the springforce, so that the valve is closed. P₂ is not closer to P₁ any more, andtherefore the outlet pressure P₂ can be limited to a desiredpredetermined pressure or less.

Herein, when the area (π/4) (d₄ ²−d₁ ²) of the openingpressure-receiving surface 25 is equal to the area (π/4)d₃ ² of thevalve component 21 that comes in contact with the valve seat 13, theabove formula becomes:(π/4)[P ₂(d ₅ ² −d ₃ ²)]≧F  (2)Thus, by determining only d₅, d₃ and F, the outlet pressure can belimited to a desired certain pressure or less. Thus, the valve can bedesigned easily. Furthermore, the outlet pressure can be limited,regardless of the inlet pressure, so that even if the inlet pressure isreduced and the outlet pressure is increased for some reason, the fluidcan be prevented from flowing back to the inlet side. Furthermore, sincethe number of the portions related to pressure adjustment is reduced,the stability of operation is high, the outlet pressure can be limitedreliably, and thus the reliability of the valve is improved.

In order to reduce the size of the rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve without changing the inlet pressure and the outlet pressure, d₅ isreduced so that the diameter of the rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve is reduced, and at the same time, the spring force F is reduced inaccordance with the change of d₅ so that the pressure balance is notchanged. When the diameter of the rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve is reduced, the channel from the inlet 11 a to the outlet 12 a isnarrowed, so that it is predicted that the flow rate characteristics aredeteriorated. However, by reducing the spring force F, a response timethat is a time until the spring force F acts on the valve member 2 atthe time of opening the valve becomes short and the displacement amountby which the valve member 2 slides to the opening direction becomeslarge. Thus, the size of the rapidly opening pressure regulating valvecan be reduced without deteriorating the flow rate characteristics.

When the sealing plate 52 is not open, the inlet pressure P₁ is notapplied to the opening pressure-receiving portion 25 and the openingpressure-receiving portion 25 is in an atmospheric pressure, andtherefore d₄=0 is achieved according to formula (1). Therefore, thevalve closing force is sufficiently large and the valve maintains to beclosed in a reliable manner. In this case, the outlet pressure isnaturally an atmospheric pressure.

On the other hand, when the sealing plate 52 is broken in this state,since P₂ can be regarded as being substantially 0 in the formulae (1)and (2) if P₁ is sufficiently larger than the atmospheric pressure,almost only the spring force F acts as the valve opening/closing force,provided that the area (π/4) (d₄ ²−d₁ ²) of the openingpressure-receiving surface 25 is equal to or is not very different fromthe area (π/4)d₃ ² of the valve component 21 that comes in contact withthe valve seat 13. Therefore, the valve is opened in a reliable manner.Then, the state in which the valve is open is maintained until theoutlet pressure is increased to a predetermined pressure or more. Inthis case, when the force for opening the valve is even slightly larger,the valve is in full open, so that there is no possibility that thefluid resistance is increased by the opening/closing mechanism or thepressure adjusting mechanism.

Before the sealing plate 52 is opened, the pressure P₁ is high, andsince the valve seat 13 comes in contact with the valve component 21 andthe valve is closed, so that the pressure on the outlet 12 a isatmospheric pressure P₀, which is low. As a result, as shown in formula(1), the valve closing force by the pressure P₁ is sufficiently largerthan the valve opening force F by the spring, so that the valve can beclosed. However, when P₁ becomes a predetermined pressure or less, thevalve closing force becomes smaller than the valve opening force by thespring force F, and therefore the valve may be opened.

In the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve of this example, asshown in FIG. 7B, the pressure that acts on the pressure-receivingsurface 7 a of the moving spring receptacle 7 becomes atmosphericpressure P₀, so that the force for compressing the spring 4 is released,and the moving spring receptacle 7 is elevated from the position L atwhich the spring force F is generated to a position H at which thespring force becomes F₀, which is substantially zero. As a result, theforce of the spring 4 substantially does not act on the spring receivingportion 26 of the valve member 2, so that the valve is maintained closedas long as the sealing plate is not broken. The arrows of P₀ and F₀ inthe drawings show the pressure and the direction of the force,respectively, and the amplitude is substantially 0, as described above.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an entire configuration of arapidly opening pressure regulating valve of another embodiment of theinvention.

The rapidly opening pressure regulating valve of this example includes amain body 1 a, a valve member 2, a spring receptacle 8, a spring 4,which is a bias member, and a moving spring receptacle 7, which is amoving receiving portion. The valve member 2 is composed of a valvecomponent 21 and a main valve member 22. The rapidly opening pressureregulating valve of this example is different from the rapidly openingpressure regulating valve of the example shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 in theshapes of the main body and the spring receptacle, and the other portionthan that are the same. The same portions as in the rapidly openingpressure regulating valve shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 bear the same referencenumerals and are not described in detail. The relationship of thepressure applied to the valve member 2 as shown in FIG. 7 is the same asthat in the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve shown in FIGS. 3and 4.

In the above example, the inner circumferential surface of the upper endportion of the main body 1 and the outer circumferential surface of thespring receptacle 8 have corresponding threads, and the springreceptacle 8 is engaged with the upper end portion of the main body 1.In this example, the outer circumferential surface of the upper endportion of the main body 1 a and the inner circumferential surface ofthe spring receptacle 8 that is formed so as to cover the upper endportion of the main body 1 a have corresponding threads, and the upperend portion of the main body 1 a is inserted in and engaged with thespring receptacle 8. In the above example, the moving spring receptacle7 is guided movably in the opening/closing direction Z1-Z2 along theinner circumferential surface of the main body 1. In this example, thespring receptacle 8 guides the moving spring receptacle 7 movably in theopening/closing direction Z1-Z2 along the inner circumferential surfacethereof. Therefore, the length of the main body 1 a in theopening/closing direction can be smaller than the length of the mainbody 1 in the opening/closing direction at least by about the total ofthe thickness of the spring receptacle 8 in the opening/closingdirection and the thickness of the movable area of the moving springreceptacle 7 in the opening/closing direction, more specifically, can be10% to 30% smaller than the length of the main body 1 in theopening/closing direction. This reduces the weight of the main body 1 aand facilitates processing.

The spring receptacle 8 and the main body 1 a are provided with acontact portion 8 a on the spring receptacle side and a contact portion1 b on the main body side that are positioned above from the engagedportion where the spring receptacle 8 and the main body 1 a come incontact with each other when being engaged with each other. The contactportion 8 a on the spring receptacle side and the contact portion 1 b onthe main body side are tapered with the central axis of the valve member2 as the center, which makes it easy to align the axes when engaging thespring receptacle 8 and the main body 1 a. The tapering angle of thecontact portion 8 a on the spring receptacle side and the contactportion 1 b on the main body side is preferably 60°±20°.

In order for the outer circumferential surface of the inlet nozzleportion 11 to be mounted in a high pressure nitrogen cylinder 100 whenused as a rapidly opening pressure regulating valve 101 as shown in FIG.11, the inlet nozzle portion 11 is tapered and threaded. When anexcessive force is applied to the inlet nozzle portion 11 by thenitrogen cylinder 100 having tumbled down or having fallen down in thestate where the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve 101 is mountedin the nitrogen cylinder 100, then stress concentration occurs, and thusthe inlet nozzle portion 11 may be deformed.

On the other hand, this example includes insert portion reinforcingmeans that increases the mechanical strength of the inlet nozzle portion11 to which the cylinder is to be inserted. In particular, as describedabove, the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve, in particular, theinlet nozzle portion 11 in the state where it is inserted in thecylinder can be prevented from being deformed by reinforcing a portionincluding a boundary portion between a housed portion that is housedinside the cylinder and an exposed portion that is exposed outside thecylinder, because stress concentrates on this portion.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing an entire configuration of arapidly opening pressure regulating valve of further another embodimentof the invention. The rapidly opening pressure regulating valve of thisexample includes a main body 1 a, a valve member 2, a spring receptacle8, a spring 4, which is a bias member, a moving spring receptacle 7,which is a moving receiving portion, and a bush 10 for reinforcement,which is insert portion reinforcing means. The valve member 2 composedof a valve component 21 and a main valve member 22. The rapidly openingpressure regulating valve of this example is different from the rapidlyopening pressure regulating valve of the example shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and8 in the shapes of the inlet nozzle portion 11 and the fact that thebush 10 for reinforcement is provided. The same portions as in therapidly opening pressure regulating valve shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 8 bearthe same reference numerals and are not described in detail. Therelationship of the pressure applied to the valve member 2 as shown inFIG. 7 is the same as that in the rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 8.

The structure of the bush 10 for reinforcement includes a bush main body10 a, which is a main body of reinforcing means provided across betweenboth sides of a boundary between the housed portion that is housed in acylinder and the exposed portion that is exposed outside the cylinder inthe axis direction, a thread mechanism portion 10 b that is provided onone side in the axis direction from the boundary for supplying a drivingforce toward the one side in the axis direction to the bush main body 10a, and a thread-advance preventing portion 10 c that is provided on theother side in the axis direction from the boundary for preventing thebush main body 10 a from advancing while being threaded to the one sidein the axis direction. In this example, “one side in the axis direction”refers to the side of the exposed portion that is exposed outside acylinder, that is, the side of the rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve, and “the other side in the axis direction” refers to the side ofthe housed portion that is housed in the cylinder, that is, the side ofthe cylinder.

More specifically, the bush main body 10 a is formed in a cylindricalshape. The thread mechanism portion 10 b has an inner threaded portionthat is formed integrally with the inner circumferential portion of theinlet nozzle portion 11, and an outer threaded portion that is formedintegrally with the outer circumferential portion of the bush main body10 a and that is thread-engaged with the inner threaded portion. Thethread-advance preventing portion 10 c is formed integrally with thebush main body 10 a and projects outward in the radial direction to beengaged with the inlet nozzle portion 11.

In order to mount the bush 10 for reinforcement, the bush 10 forreinforcement is inserted from the inlet 11 a in such a direction thatthe thread mechanism portion 10 b is first inserted, and isthread-advanced while being rotated about the axis. In this case, thebush main body 10 a tries to thread-advance, but the bush main body 10 ais prevented from thread-advancing by the thread-advance preventingportion 10 c. At this point, when further rotation is provided, a forcecaused by the thread-advance preventing portion 10 c pressing the inletnozzle portion 11 in the thread-advancing direction and a force causedby the thread mechanism portion 10 b pulling the inlet nozzle portion 11to the cylinder side compress the inlet nozzle portion 11. Thus, themechanical strength of the inlet nozzle portion 11 can be increased.

The bush 10 for reinforcement, which is insert portion reinforcingmeans, may be applied to a rapidly opening pressure regulating valvehaving a conventional structure.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing an entire configuration of arapidly opening pressure regulating valve of yet another embodiment ofthe invention. The rapidly opening pressure regulating valve of thisexample includes a main body 201, a valve member 202, a springreceptacle 203, a spring 204, a moving spring receptacle 207, a middlebody 210, and a bush 20 for reinforcement The rapidly opening pressureregulating valve of this example is different from the rapidly openingpressure regulating valve of the example shown in FIG. 14 in that thebush 20 for reinforcement is provided in the inlet nozzle portion 11.The same portions as in the rapidly opening pressure regulating valveshown in FIG. 14 bear the same reference numerals and are not describedin detail. The relationship of the pressure applied to the valve member2 as shown in FIG. 7 is the same as that in the rapidly opening pressureregulating valve shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 8 and 9.

In this example, the structure of the bush 20 for reinforcement includesa bush main body 20 a, a thread mechanism portion 20 b, and athread-advance preventing portion 20 c, and is similar to the structureof the bush 10 for reinforcement shown in FIG. 9, but is different inthe positions of the thread mechanism portion 20 b and thethread-advance preventing portion 20 c. Since in the rapidly openingpressure regulating valve of this example, the main body 201 and themiddle body 210 are discrete members, the bush 20 for reinforcement isinserted from, not the inlet 11 a, but the side of the middle body 210and is thread-advanced while being rotated about the axis. Therefore, inthis example, “one side in the axis direction” refers to the side of thehoused portion that is housed in a cylinder, that is, the cylinder side,and “the other side in the axis direction” refers to the side of theexposed portion that is exposed outside the cylinder, that is, therapidly opening pressure regulating valve side.

Even if the bush 20 for reinforcement is inserted in a differentdirection, the function and the effect are the same as in the bush 10for reinforcement. A force caused by the thread-advance preventingportion 20 c pressing the inlet nozzle portion 11 in thethread-advancing direction and a force caused by the thread mechanismportion 20 b pulling the inlet nozzle portion 11 to the cylinder sidecompress the inlet nozzle portion 11. Thus, the mechanical strength ofthe inlet nozzle portion 11 can be increased.

Preferably, the length of the thread mechanism portions 10 b, 20 b ofthe bushes 10, 20 for reinforcement in the axis direction is such anextent that can apply a force that can provide a surface pressure of 3to 5 kg/mm² to the threaded surfaces of the thread mechanism portions 10b, 20 b and the inlet nozzle portion 11 by thread-engaging. However, thelength does not extend beyond the vicinity of the boundary where ashearing force may occur. The length in the axis direction of thethread-advance preventing portions 10 c, 20 c and the length of theprojected portion in the radial direction that is projected outward inthe radial direction are preferably such a length that can resistsufficiently the shearing force that occurs in the thread-advancepreventing portions 10 c, 20 c when a force providing a surface pressureof 3 to 5 kg/mm² to the threaded surfaces of the thread mechanismportions 10 b, 20 b and the inlet nozzle portion 11 by thread-engagingis applied.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a system outline of a nitrogen fireextinguishing apparatus, which is one example of an apparatus to whichthe above-described rapidly opening pressure regulating valve isapplied. The nitrogen fire extinguishing apparatus includes a nitrogencylinder 100 that is filled with nitrogen whose pressure is increased toabout 150 kgf/cm²G at 40° C., a rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve 101 that is mounted therein, a CO₂ cylinder 102 for starting thathas a pressure of about 110 kgf/cm²G at a temperature of 40° C., astarter 103 that is mounted therein, has the same structure as thevalve-operating mechanism of FIG. 6B, and is operated by a solenoid orthe like instead of high pressure inert gas, a starting gas line 104, afire extinguishing line 105, a safety apparatus 136, a base valve 107, aselection valve 108 for selecting a fire extinguishment area, anindividual fire extinguishing line 109, and a fire extinguishing area110. The rapidly opening pressure regulating valve is designed so as tohave the following relationship based on formula (2), when it is assumedthat the area (π/4) (d₄ ²−d₁ ²) of the opening pressure-receivingsurface 25 is equal to the area (π/4)d₃ ² of the valve component 21 thatcomes in contact with the valve seat 13, and for example, P₂=110kgf/cm²G is satisfied:(π/4)[110(d ₅ ² −d ₃ ²)]=F  (3)

Herein, the unit of d₅ and d₃ is cm, and the unit of F is kgf.

The rapidly opening pressure regulating valve having the above-describedstructure operates in the following manner. An inlet pressure P₁ ofabout 150 kgf/cm²G is applied to the rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve from the nitrogen cylinder 100, and the sealing plate 52 is notbroken. Therefore, in formula (1), assuming d₄=0, a large valve closingforce of P₁(d₃ ²+d₁ ²)π/4 is exerted so that the vale is firmly closed.In this state, for example, when a fire take places in any fireextinguishment area 110, the starter 103 is operated, so that anoperation gas with about a pressure of 110 kgf/cm²G is introduced to thevalve-operating mechanism 6 of the rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve 101 from the CO₂ cylinder 102 through the starting gas line 104.

In the valve-operating mechanism 6, the starting gas is introduced in aportion above the operation ring 64 through communication holes that areopened in the outer tube 61, the inner tube 62, and the cover 63, and agas pressure is generated between this member and the rod 67, theoperation ring 64 and accordingly the needle member 65 and the point 65a are pressed down, and penetrate and open the sealing plate 52. Then,nitrogen is immediately introduced from the inlet 11 a to the upper endportion through the lateral communication hole 14, the air supply port55, the connection communication hole 16, and the communication hole 23,and the pressure P₁ is applied to the opening pressure-receiving surface25 of the valve member 2 and the pressure-receiving surface 7 a of themoving spring receptacle 7. On the other hand, d₃ and d₄ are botheffective, the P₁ portion of formula (1) becomes 0, and the outletpressure P₂ is an atmospheric pressure, there is substantially no valveopening/closing force by pressure. Then, the valve member 2 is presseddown by the spring force F in a reliable manner, so that the valve isopened immediately. Thus, nitrogen rapidly flows to the fireextinguishing line 105 and the subsequent elements to fill the fireextinguishment area 110 and thus provides a fire extinguishing effect.

On the other hand, when the valve is opened, and, for example, the basevalve 107 or the selection valve 108 are closed, then the pressure inthe fire extinguishing line 105 is increased, and as a result, thepressure in the outlet 12 a of the rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve 101 is increased. However, when this pressure has reached 110kgf/cm², the force by the outlet pressure and the valve opening/closingforce is balanced because the sizes and the spring force are determinedas shown in formula (2). When the pressure exceeds 110 kgf/cm², thevalve closing force by pressure becomes larger than the spring force, sothat the valve is closed. As a result, the excessive increase of thepressure on the outlet side from 110 kgf/cm²G or more can be prevented.

As described above, the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve ofthis example can supply fluid by opening the valve reliably andimmediately when a fire should be extinguished, and can restrict thepressure on the outlet side to a predetermined pressure, for example,110 kgf/cm²G or less. Therefore, it is not necessary to increase thepressure resistance of the entire fire extinguishing system such aslines or valves to 110 kgf/cm²G or more, which is required in the caseof conventional CO² fire extinguishing systems. As a result, it ispossible to use a nitrogen fire extinguishing apparatus having a fireextinguishing capacity as high as, for example, 150 kgf/cm²G withoutcausing increase of the cost of facility and the like.

The invention can be used for a nitrogen fire extinguishing apparatushaving a pressure of, for example, about 300 kgf/cm²G. The rapidlyopening pressure regulating valve of the invention can be used widelyfor, not only nitrogen fire extinguishing apparatuses, but also fireextinguishing apparatuses using other inert gas, high pressure gascylinders and the like.

Furthermore, when the pressure of the nitrogen cylinder 100 is reduced,it is possible to prevent nitrogen from flowing into the outlet line.Even if the valve is opened and nitrogen enters the outlet line, sinceunnecessary blowing of fire extinguishing gas to a fire extinguishmentarea is prevented by the base valve 107 or the selection valve 108 inthe fire extinguishing system, there is no hazardousness. Moreover,according to this example, when filling the nitrogen cylinder 100 withnitrogen at the shipment from a plant, when the pressure in the cylinderis increased even slightly, the valve is closed immediately by theresistance of the valve, so that nitrogen can be filled in a state wherethe outlet nozzle portion 12 is opened or is lightly covered by a cap,and thus the handling properties of the valve are improved.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects asillustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention beingindicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription and all changes which come within the meaning and the rangeof equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embracedtherein.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the invention, a rapidly opening pressure regulating valveis constituted by a combination of a main body, a valve member, areceiving member, a biasing member, pressure-sealing means and sealedpressure-releasing means; a channel for communicating between an inletof the main body and the other end side is provided in the valve memberand the main body; the channel is blocked by a pressure-sealing memberof the pressure-sealing means; a pressure-receiving area for receiving afluid pressure of the valve component portion that is seated in thevalve seat, a pressure-receiving area of the closing pressure-receivingsurface of the valve member, a pressure-receiving area of the openingpressure-receiving surface positioned on the other end side, and anopening biasing force of the biasing member are determined so as to havea relationship that allows a pressure in the outlet of the main body tobe a predetermined pressure or less, in which a valve closing force thatcloses the valve component portion when the channel is communicatedbetween the one end side and the other end side, the openingpressure-receiving surface receives a pressure in the opening directionand a pressure in the outlet exceeds a predetermined pressure becomeslarger than the biasing force so that the valve component portion isclosed. The valve member is opened and closed, depending on theconditions in the following manner.

First, when the pressure-sealing means is not operated and the channelis blocked by the pressure-sealing member, the openingpressure-receiving surface is not operated, and therefore the force ofthe inlet pressure acting on the valve member in the closing directionbecomes larger than the biasing force, so that the valve member ismaintained closed.

Next, when the pressure-sealing means is operated, the pressure-sealingmember blocking the channel is opened and the inlet pressure is appliedto the opening pressure-receiving surface, which releases or reduces theclosing pressure in the inlet portion of the valve member and makes thebiasing force of the biasing member effective to open the valve memberin a reliable manner.

Furthermore, when the outlet pressure is increased in this state, thepressure to the closing pressure-receiving surface becomes larger thanthe biasing force, so that the valve is closed to restrict the outletpressure so as not to increase beyond a predetermined pressure. As aresult, even if the fluid inlet pressure is high, the outlet pressure islimited to a predetermined pressure or less to reduce the pressureresistance of tubes, valves or the like to that pressure. Then, it ispossible to use a nitrogen fire extinguishing apparatus having a highpressure of about 150 kgf/cm²G or more and a large fire extinguishmentcapacity, while maintaining, for example, an outlet pressure of 110kgf/cm²G, which corresponds to the design pressure of the conventionalfire extinguishing apparatus, that is, without increasing the cost oftubes and the like.

Furthermore, a moving receiving portion provided with apressure-receiving surface receiving the same pressure as the openingpressure-receiving surface is provided between the receiving member andthe biasing member and is guided movably in the opening/closingdirection, and when the sealed pressure is released, thepressure-receiving surface receives the pressure so that the movingreceiving portion is moved to a predetermined position in the openingdirection. Moreover, a positioning portion is provided so as to stop themoving receiving portion at this position. Therefore, the biasing forcecan be generated in the biasing member at this predetermined position atthe time of opening. As a result, the outlet pressure can be controlledto a predetermined pressure or less.

On the other hand, when the sealed pressure is not released, no pressureis applied to the pressure-receiving surface, and therefore a force thatmoves the moving receiving portion to a predetermined position is notgenerated, and the moving receiving portion moves freely in a directionopposite to the predetermined position as a result of having received areaction of the biasing member. Consequently, the biasing force of thebiasing member is not generated, and the valve member is not biased tothe opening direction by the biasing member. Consequently, even if thefluid pressure on the inlet side is reduced, unnecessary opening of thevalve due to the biasing force of the biasing member is prevented.Furthermore, when filling gas in a fire extinguishing gas container orthe like on which the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve ismounted, gas can be filled without completely closing the outlet side,so that the handling properties of the apparatus can be improved.

In order to realize the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve havingthe above-described structure, a middle body provided with a valve seatwas necessary as a conventional rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve as shown in FIGS. 12 to 14. However, in the invention, the valvecomponent is mounted removably on one end side of the main valve memberthrough the inlet of the main body, so that the valve seat is providedin the main body, and the main valve member can be inserted from theupper end side of the main body and the valve component can be insertedfrom the inlet of the main body, and these elements can be mounted withthe valve seat sandwiched thereby. Thus, the middle body is notnecessary so that the number of the components can be reduced, therebyreducing the size of the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve.

According to the present invention, as the sealed pressure-releasingmeans, a needle portion provided so as to be opposed to thepressure-sealing member is provided in a piston-like member that isoperated by a fluid pressure, and the piston-like member is operated byan operating portion. Therefore, the pressure-sealing member can beoperated remotely by a fluid pressure and even if fluid pressure linesare out of order or the like, the pressure-sealing member can be openedand closed by a manual operation on the machine side, so that safety ofthe apparatus can be improved.

According to the present invention, the valve component includes acontact portion that comes in contact with the valve seat, and areinforcing portion that suppresses deformation of the contact portion.

At the time of contact with the valve seat, the contact portion isdeformed in the lateral direction, and in order to suppress thedeformation, it is necessary to cover the outer circumference of thecontact portion with a reinforcing portion having a predeterminedthickness. Herein, the predetermined thickness is determined by thetensile strength, which is characteristic value of the material of thereinforcing portion. As the tensile strength is larger, the thickness ofthe reinforcing portion can be thinner, and the valve component can besmaller.

According to the invention, the area of a region of the valve componentthat is opposed to the valve seat is the same as the area of the openingpressure-receiving surface. Therefore, the opening/closing force of thevalve member is determined by the outlet pressure, the size of the valveseat, the size of the closing pressure-receiving surface, and thebiasing force of the biasing member. Therefore, it is easy to design thevalve. Since the outlet pressure can be limited regardless of the inletpressure, the fluid is prevented from flowing back to the inlet sidewhen the outlet pressure is in increase. Furthermore, since the numberof portions involved in pressure adjustment is decreased, the operationstability of the valve is increased, and the outlet pressure can belimited reliably, so that the reliability of the valve can be improved.

According to the invention, the pressure-receiving area of the closingpressure-receiving surface is reduced while the pressure-receiving areafor receiving a fluid pressure of the valve component seated in thevalve seat, and the pressure-receiving area of the openingpressure-receiving surface are predetermined and the above-describedrelationship is maintained. The valve closing force is reduced byreducing the pressure-receiving area of the closing pressure-receivingsurface so that the relationship is changed, but can be realized byreducing the spring force. By reducing the pressure-receiving area ofthe closing pressure-receiving surface, the diameter of the rapidlyopening pressure regulating valve is reduced, and can be more compact.Furthermore, the displacement amount of the valve member can beincreased by reducing the spring force, so that the flow ratecharacteristics can be improved.

According to the invention, the receiving member is constituted suchthat its inner circumferential surface can guide movement of the movingreceiving portion in the opening/closing direction. Thus, the length ofthe main body in the opening/closing direction can be reduced, and theweight of the main body can be reduced, and processing can befacilitated.

According to the invention, the receiving member and the main body areconstituted so as to be capable of being thread-engaged with each other,and have contact portions other than engaged portions, and the contactportions are formed to be tapered. This makes it easy to align the axeswhen the receiving portion and the main body are engaged with eachother.

According to the invention, a rapidly opening pressure regulating valvecomprises a valve member configured so as to be displaceable along anaxis, and a main body formed integrally with a cylinder insert portionthat is inserted in a high pressure gas cylinder and in which an inletof gas is formed, wherein insert portion reinforcing means thatincreases a mechanical strength of the cylinder insert portion isprovided. In particular, the insert portion reinforcing means reinforcesa portion including a vicinity of a boundary between a housed portionthat is housed in a cylinder and an exposed portion that is exposedoutside the cylinder.

When the mechanical strength of the cylinder insert portion isincreased, the rapidly opening pressure regulating valve, in particular,the cylinder insert portion when inserted in the cylinder is preventedfrom being deformed.

According to the invention, the structure of the insert portionreinforcing means comprises a reinforcing means main body portionprovided across between both sides in the axis direction of theboundary, a thread mechanism portion provided on one side in the axisdirection of the boundary for supplying a driving force to thereinforcing means main body portion toward the one side in the axisdirection, and a thread-advance preventing portion provided on the otherside in the axis direction of the boundary for preventing thereinforcing means main body portion from thread-advancing while beingthreaded to the one side in the axis direction. More specifically, thereinforcing means main body portion is formed in a cylindrical shape,the thread-advance preventing portion is formed integrally with thereinforcing means main body portion and projects outward in a radialdirection to be engaged with a cylinder insert portion, and the threadmechanism portion has an inner threaded portion that is formedintegrally with the inner circumferential portion of the cylinder insertportion, and an outer threaded portion that is formed integrally withthe outer circumferential portion of the reinforcing means main bodyportion and that is thread-engaged with the inner threaded portion.

According to the invention, by thread-engaging the insert portionreinforcing means with the cylinder insert portion, a force caused bypressing by the thread-advance preventing portion and a force caused bypulling by the thread mechanism portion compress the cylinder insertportion. Thus, the mechanical strength of the cylinder insert portioncan be increased. Furthermore, a material having a higher strength thanthat of the cylinder insert portion can be used for the insert portionreinforcing means to increase the strength.

According to the invention, a fire extinguishing apparatus, a highpressure gas cylinder apparatus, and an apparatus for rapidly supplyinga fluid using the above-described rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve can be realized, so that fluid such as inert gas for fireextinguishment can be supplied rapidly, and the pressure of the fluidcan be limited to a predetermined pressure or less.

1. A rapidly opening pressure regulating valve comprising: (a) a mainbody provided with a valve seat intervening in a fluid channelcommunicating with an inlet and an outlet of the fluid; (b) a valvemember being composed of: (b1) a main valve member having one end sidefacing the inlet and the other end side on the opposite side of the oneend side, and having a closing pressure-receiving surface that is incommunication with the outlet, for receiving a pressure in a closingdirection, and an opening pressure-receiving surface formed on the otherend side, for receiving a pressure in an opening direction, which valvemember is guided movably in an opening/closing direction by the mainbody, and (b2) a valve component that is mounted removably on the oneend side of the main valve member through the inlet and opened andclosed by being brought into contract with and being detached from thevalve seat; (c) a portion defining a channel for communicating the inletwith the other end side; (d) a biasing member for biasing the valvemember in the opening direction; (e) a receiving member for closing aspace in the main body in communicating with the channel; (f) a movingreceiving portion that is interposed between the receiving member andthe biasing member, the moving receiving portion being guided movably inthe opening/closing direction in the main body, provided with apressure-receiving surface for receiving a same pressure as the openingpressure-receiving surface, and generating a biasing force in thebiasing member when moved to a predetermined position in the openingdirection; (g) a positioning portion provided in the main body so as tostop the moving receiving portion at the predetermined position; (h)pressure-sealing means including a sealing plate that is provided so asto close the channel under a condition that the sealing plate is incommunication with the channel; and (i) sealed pressure-releasing meansprovided in the main body, the sealed pressure-releasing means beingconstituted so as to supply a pressure in the channel to the openingpressure-receiving surface by breaking the sealing plate when operated,(j) wherein a pressure-receiving area for receiving a fluid pressure ofthe valve component that is seated in the valve seat, apressure-receiving area of the closing pressure-receiving surface, apressure-receiving area of the opening pressure-receiving surface, and abiasing force of the biasing member are determined so as to have arelationship in which the channel is communicated and the openingpressure-receiving surface receives a pressure in the opening direction,whereby the valve component portion is opened and a valve closing forcethat closes the valve component portion when a pressure in the outletexceeds a predetermined pressure becomes larger than the biasing force,whereby the valve component portion is closed.
 2. A rapidly openingpressure regulating valve comprising: (a) a main body provided with avalve seat intervening in a fluid channel communicating with an inletand an outlet of the fluid; (b) a valve member being composed of: (b1) amain valve member having one end side facing the inlet and the other endside on the opposite side of the one end side, and having a closingpressure-receiving surface that is in communication with the outlet, forreceiving a pressure in a closing direction, and an openingpressure-receiving surface formed on the other end side, for receiving apressure in an opening direction, which valve member is guided movablyin an opening/closing direction by the main body, and (b2) a valvecomponent that is mounted removably on the one end side of the mainvalve member through the inlet and opened and closed by being broughtinto contact with and being detached from the valve seat; (c) a portiondefining a channel for communicating the inlet with the other end side;(d) a biasing member for biasing the valve member in the openingdirection; (e) a receiving member for closing a space in the main bodyin communicating with the channel; (f) a moving receiving portion thatis interposed between the receiving member and the biasing member, themoving receiving portion being guided movably in the opening/closingdirection in the main body, provided with a pressure-receiving surfacefor receiving a same pressure as the opening pressure-receiving surface,and generating a biasing force in the biasing member when moved to apredetermined position in the opening direction; (g) a positioningportion provided in the main body so as to stop the moving receivingportion at the predetermined position; (h) pressure-sealing meansincluding a pressure-sealing member that is provided so as to close thechannel under a condition that the pressure-sealing member is incommunication with the channel; and (i) sealed pressure-releasing meansprovided in the main body, the sealed pressure-releasing means beingconstituted so as to supply a pressure in the channel to the openingpressure-receiving surface by keeping the pressure-sealing member openwhen operated, (j) wherein a pressure-receiving area for receiving afluid pressure of the valve component that is seated in the valve seat,a pressure-receiving area of the closing pressure-receiving surface, apressure-receiving area of the opening pressure-receiving surface, and abiasing force of the biasing member are determined so as to have arelationship in which the channel is communicated and the openingpressure-receiving surface receives a pressure in the opening direction,whereby the valve component portion is opened and a valve closing forcethat closes the valve component portion when a pressure in the outletexceeds a predetermined pressure becomes larger than the biasing force,whereby the valve component portion is closed.
 3. The rapidly openingpressure regulating valve of claim 2, wherein the pressure-sealingmember is a sealing plate, the sealed pressure-releasing meanscomprising: a needle portion provided so as to be opposed to the sealingplate; a piston-like member for biasing the needle portion such that theneedle portion penetrates the sealing plate by receiving a fluidpressure; and an operating portion formed so as to the bias thepiston-like member.
 4. The rapidly opening pressure regulating valve ofclaim 1, wherein the valve component comprises a contact portion thatcomes in contact with the valve seat; and a reinforcing portion forsuppressing deformation of the contact portion, and the reinforcingportion is made of a material having a tensile strength of 200 N/mm² ormore.
 5. The rapidly opening pressure regulating valve of claim 1,wherein an area of a region of the valve component that is opposed tothe valve seat is the same as an area of the opening pressure-receivingsurface.
 6. The rapidly opening pressure regulating valve of claim 1,wherein when the pressure-receiving area of the closingpressure-receiving surface is reduced, the pressure-receiving area forreceiving a fluid pressure of the valve component seated in the valveseat and the pressure-receiving area of the opening pressure-receivingsurface are constant, and the relationship is maintained.
 7. The rapidlyopening pressure regulating valve of claim 1, wherein the receivingmember is constituted such that its inner circumferential surface canguide movement of the moving receiving portion in the opening/closingdirection.
 8. The rapidly opening pressure regulating valve of claim 7,wherein the receiving member and the main body are constituted so as tobe capable of being thread-engaged with each other, and have contactportions other than engaged portions, which contact portions are formedto be tapered.
 9. A rapidly opening pressure regulating valvecomprising: a valve member configured so as to be displaceable along anaxis thereof; and a main body formed integrally with a cylinder insertportion that is inserted in a high pressure gas cylinder and in which aninlet of gas is formed, the rapidly opening pressure regulating valvecomprising: insert portion reinforcing means for increasing a mechanicalstrength of the cylinder insert portion, wherein the cylinder insertportion includes a housed portion that is housed in a cylinder and anexposed portion that is exposed outside the cylinder, and the insertportion reinforcing means reinforces a portion including a vicinity of aboundary between the housed portion and the exposed portion by makingthe cylinder insert portion into a compressed state.
 10. (canceled) 11.The rapidly opening pressure regulating valve of claim 9, wherein theinsert portion reinforcing means comprises: a reinforcing means mainbody portion provided across between both sides in the axis direction ofthe boundary; a thread mechanism portion provided on one side in theaxis direction of the boundary, for supplying a driving force to thereinforcing means main body portion toward the one side in the axisdirection; and a thread-advance preventing portion provided on the otherside in the axis direction of the boundary, for preventing thereinforcing means main body portion from advancing while being threadedto the one side in the axis direction.
 12. The rapidly opening pressureregulating valve of claim 10, wherein the reinforcing means main bodyportion is formed in a cylindrical shape, the thread-advance preventingportion is formed integrally with the reinforcing means main bodyportion and projects outward in a radial direction of the reinforcingmeans main body portion to be engaged with a cylinder insert portion,and the thread mechanism portion has an inner threaded portion that isformed integrally with the inner circumferential portion of the cylinderinsert portion, and an outer threaded portion that is formed integrallywith the outer circumferential portion of the reinforcing means mainbody portion and that is thread-engaged with the inner threaded portion.13. A fire extinguishing apparatus comprising: an inert gas cylinder forstoring inert gas for fire extinguishment; the rapidly opening pressureregulating valve of claim 1 in which the inlet of the main body ismounted on the inert gas cylinder, wherein the fire extinguishingapparatus comprises a line for guiding the inert gas from an outlet ofthe rapidly opening pressure regulating valve to a fire extinguishmentarea.
 14. A high pressure gas cylinder apparatus comprising: a highpressure gas cylinder; and the rapidly opening pressure regulating valveof claim 1 in which the inlet of the main body thereof is mounted on thehigh pressure gas cylinder.
 15. An apparatus for rapidly supplying afluid comprising: a fluid source for supplying a fluid; and the rapidlyopening pressure regulating valve of claim 1 in which the inlet of themain body thereof is provided in the fluid source.
 16. The rapidlyopening pressure regulating valve of claim 2, wherein the valvecomponent comprises a contact portion that comes in contact with thevalve seat; and a reinforcing portion for suppressing deformation of thecontact portion, and the reinforcing portion is made of a materialhaving a tensile strength of 200 N/mm² or more.
 17. The rapidly openingpressure regulating valve of claim 2, wherein an area of a region of thevalve component that is opposed to the valve seat is the same as an areaof the opening pressure-receiving surface.
 18. The rapidly openingpressure regulating valve of claim 2, wherein when thepressure-receiving area of the closing pressure-receiving surface isreduced, the pressure-receiving area for receiving a fluid pressure ofthe valve component seated in the valve seat and the pressure-receivingarea of the opening pressure-receiving surface are constant, and therelationship is maintained.
 19. The rapidly opening pressure regulatingvalve of claim 2, wherein the receiving member is constituted such thatits inner circumferential surface can guide movement of the movingreceiving portion in the opening/closing direction.
 20. A fireextinguishing apparatus comprising: an inert gas cylinder for storinginert gas for fire extinguishment; the rapidly opening pressureregulating valve of claim 2 in which the inlet of the main body ismounted on the inert gas cylinder, wherein the fire extinguishingapparatus comprises a line for guiding the inert gas from an outlet ofthe rapidly opening pressure regulating valve to a fire extinguishmentarea.
 21. A high pressure gas cylinder apparatus comprising: a highpressure gas cylinder; and the rapidly opening pressure regulating valveof claim 2 in which the inlet of the main body thereof is mounted on thehigh pressure gas cylinder.
 22. An apparatus for rapidly supplying afluid comprising: a fluid source for supplying a fluid; and the rapidlyopening pressure regulating valve of claim 2 in which the inlet of themain body thereof is provided in the fluid source.
 23. A fireextinguishing apparatus comprising: an inert gas cylinder for storinginert gas for fire extinguishment; the rapidly opening pressureregulating valve of claim 9 in which the inlet of the main body ismounted on the inert gas cylinder, wherein the fire extinguishingapparatus comprises a line for guiding the inert gas from an outlet ofthe rapidly opening pressure regulating valve to a fire extinguishmentarea.
 24. A high pressure gas cylinder apparatus comprising: a highpressure gas cylinder; and the rapidly opening pressure regulating valveof claim 9 in which the inlet of the main body thereof is mounted on thehigh pressure gas cylinder.
 25. An apparatus for rapidly supplying afluid comprising: a fluid source for supplying a fluid; and the rapidlyopening pressure regulating valve of claim 9 in which the inlet of themain body thereof is provided in the fluid source.